Counter and method of making the same



35am 193R. A. BLUSTEIN COUNTER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Aug.21, 1929 Patented Jan. 6, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ABRAHAMBLUSTEIN, OF MAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS,TO THE BROWN COUNTER COMPANY, OF HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, ACOPABTNERSHIP CONSISTING OF'HARRY BROWN AND ABBAHAM BLUSTEIN COUNTER ANDMETHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Application filed August 21, 1929. Serial No.887,418.

a with a suitable impregnating agent, or sizing; a piece of this fiberboard being suitably cut, pressed and shaped to form the counter.

During the shaping'operation, wax or the like 1 has been applied to thefiber board counter, and it was treated or shaped under pressure, sothat the sizing or indurating agent 'may become solidified throughoutsubstantially the entire extent of the sheet article to render theshaped counter comparatively stifi. Preferably, in order to preventchafing of the foot and to permit the inner surface of the shoe to becomparatively smooth, a. narrow marginal bevel has commonly beenprovided upon the upper portion ofa counter of this character.

In the manufacture of shoes, particularly of the McKay type, thepartiall finished shoes are now ordinarily remove from the last whenstill moist or green. Accordingly, there is a marked tendency for theuppers, including the counter portions of t e shoes, to warp out ofshape. With the conventional stiff fiber board counter, the subsequentleveling does not result in imparting the proper shape to the counter;accordingly, shoes, particularly of the McKay type, which include theconventional fiber board counters often have poorly formed backportions. On the other hand, leather counters are ordinarilysufliciently flexible or deformable so that they may be properly,reshaped toimpart the proper form to the rear portion of the shoe.While, due to their low cost, the fiber board counters have commonlybeen accepted by the shoe trade, leather counters have been recognizedas being distinctly superior, particularly due to their greaterflexibility and wear. Accordingly,.one of the characteristics bv whichthe quality of shoes has been determined has been the type of counteremadaptability to high grade footployed, the leather counter beingreadily distinguishable by its greater flexibility or deformability totouch and affording a finished shoe of superior form. Furthermore,leather counters have been advantageous in use since they morereadilyconform to the shape of the foot and avoid undesirable chafing orblistering of the same. In contrast to the leather counters, the fiberboard counters heretofore manufactured have been characterized by stiflmarginal portions which are not-readily deformable at the touch of thefingers and which render the back part of the shoe comparatively rigid,tending tocut the shoe lining and chafing or blistering the foot.

The present invention obviates these deficiencies in the fiber boardcounters and provides the same with qualities which have heretoforecharacterized the leather counters; accordingly a counter formed inaccordance with this invention, when pro erly located within a shoe, ispractically indistinguishable from a high priced leather counter and, insome respects, is superior to the latter. For example, counters of thetype provided by the present invention may be employed in shoesemploying very thin material for the outer ortion ofthe upper with outthe margin 0 the counter being visible through the same as hasordinarily been the case, not only with the rigid fiber board asheretofore provided, but also with the leather counters as well.Thereforethe present invention provides a comparatively inexpensivecounter which has characteristics comparable to or better than those ofthe highest priced counters heretofore employed, permitting greater footcomfort and avoiding the provision of a rigid marginal portion that isliable to blister or injure the users foot.

Furthermore, these flexible or readily deformable fiber board countersare particularly advantageous when employed in shoes of-the McKay typesince they may readily be shaped after lasting to give the back portionof the finished shoe the proper form, which has not heretofore beenpossible with the inexpensive fiber board counters.

' I have found that a satisfactory fiber board counter may be formed byshaping the counrol ter in the conventional manner but by con fining theapplication of the stiffening treatment to the lower portion, i. e.,substantially to the lower half or two-thirds of the counter, as thesame is shaped. Accordingly, the lower portion of the counter upon whichthe higher strains are imposed is rendered substantially stiff and formretaining, while a comparatively wide marginal portion of the counter isleft relatively flexible. This flexible portion of the counter may havea skive at least of the order of three-quarters of an inch in width, orin a typical counter it may have a minimum width that is at least athird of the maximum height of the counter. When the material of thecounter wall is treated and formed in this manner, the resulting counteris adapted effectively to withstand the strains and'wear of service andyet has flexibility which is comparable to that of a leather counter.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a counter manufactured in accordance withthis invention so that its margin may be readily deformed under fingerpressure, the stiffened area of the same being indicatedby dots;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a sectionaldetail of the inner portion of the counter.

In accordance with the present invention, a thin sheet of fiber board iscut into blanks of a suitable size and shape to make the individualcounters. Preferably this fiber board is 'formed of vegetable fibers,having a wood pulp base, and may be treated with asuitable sizing thatmay be rendered stiff by a suitable treatment such, for example, as thea'pplication of pressure.

In accordance with this invention, the blank which is to be formed intoa counter, while in a mulled or softened condition, preferably isprovided with a comparatively wide skiving 2 upon its marginal portion,which corresponds to the upper edge of the counter. For example, thisskiving may be substantially three-quarters of an inch in width. Thesoftened counter blank is then passed through the conventional rollingmachine which applies pressure to the blank and gives it a well definedcurvature. I have found that the interfitting forming elements of therolling machine may be so shaped as to confine the direct application ofpressure substantially to the lower half or two-thirds of the counterblank. For this purpose, for example, the outer element or cup membermay have a portion of its surface ground away, so that it does notdirectly engage the corresponding portion of the counter blank. Thusupon the application of pressure the lower part of the back portion ofthe counter is impregnated with wax and subjected to pressure sufficientto cause the indurating or stiffening of the sizing. After thistreatment, the counter mate shoe.

blank may be disposed in the conventional molding machine which performsthe final shaping operation. Due to the confinement of the stiffeningtreatment to the lower part of the counter, as designated by numeral 1,and due to the wide marginal skiving 2, the upper portion of the counteris rendered comparatively flexible, thus resembling a leather counter inthis important respect.

I have found that a leather counter may readily be distinguished fromfiber board counters of the type heretofore manufactured by the factthat the margin of the leather counter is readily deformable to thetouch of the fingers; while if the margin of an ordinary fiber boardcounter is grasped between the thumb and forefinger of the hand, itaffords a comparatively stiff opposition to deformation. On the otherhand, the margin of a leather counter or in a counter constructed inaccordance with my invention is readily deformable when engaged by thethumb and finger, as indicated by dot and dash lines in Fig. 3, such acounter being characterized by a skived marginal portion which may havea width at least substantially of the order of three-quarters of an inchor substantially three-eighths of the maximum height of the counter, i.e., the height of the back of the same. Preferably the stiffeningtreatment or application only extends upward to the intermediate partofthe counter so that the upper half or third of the same is substantiallyfree from the stiffening treatment.

I have found that a counter made in this manner is practicallyindistinguishable, when located within a shoe, from a high pricedleather counter. Low priced shoes manufactured with a counter of thischaracter may thus more closely resemble high priced shoes of exclusivemake and, furthermore, the feel of the counter to the foot of the wearermay be substantially the same as that permitted by a leather counter,the objectionable marginal stiffness of the fiber board countersheretofore employed being absent.

Especially shoes of the McKay type may be advantageously provided withcounters made in accordance with the present invention, and maybeproperly shaped under the conditions of commercial manufacture so thatthe warpmg, which normally results from. removal from the last when theuppers are still green, does not adversely affect the shape of the ulti-Furthermore, even when the material of the upper is very thin, the edgeof my counter does not form a perceptible irregularity beneath the same.The flexibility of a counter of this type permits it to conform somewhatto the shape of the foot of wearer and avoids the objectionable cuttingof the shoe lining or chafing of the feet which often accompanies theuse of the conventional stiff fiber board counters.

I claim:

1. A shoe counter formed of thin fiber hoard, treated with animpregnating agent, the lower portion of said counter being renderedstiff by a suitable treatment of the impregnating agent, the upper thirdof the counter including said agent but being substantially free fromthe stiffening treatment, and a skive upon the upper margin of thecounter having a minimum width which is of the order of three-quartersof an inch, whereby the margin of the counter is readily deformableunder finger pressure.

2. A shoe counter formed of thin fiber board, treated with animpregnating agent, the lower portion of said counter being renderedstiif by a suitable treatment of the impregnating agent, a region of theorder of three quarters of an inch in width at the-top of the counterincluding said agent but being substantially free from the stiffeningtreatment, and a skive upon the upper margin of the counter having aminimum width which is of the order of three-quarters of an inch,whereby the margin of the counter is readily deformable under fingerpressure.

3. The method of making adeformable fiber board counter which comprisesimpregnating a sheet of thin fiber board with material that may berendered stiff, shaping the sheet to counter form and treating theimpregnating material in the lower part of the counter to make that partstill, while leaving the upper third of the counter substantiallyuntreated and deformable.

4. The method of making a deformable fiber board counter, whichcomprises impregnating a sheet of, thin fiber board with a material thatis rendered stiff upon application of pressure, shaping the sheet underpressure, confining the direct application of pressure to a regionspaced substantially three-quarters of an inch from the top of thecounter blank so that a wide marginal portion of the counter is leftfree from the stiffening treatment and so that the lower part of thecounter is stifi.

5. The method of making a deformable counter which comprises'cutting ablank of thin fiber board, providing the lank with a marginal skive witha width of the order of three-quarters of an inch, shaping the blank tocounter form while treating the lower part thereof to render the samestiff and leaving the skived region substantially free from stiffening.

6. A shoe counter formed of thin fiber board, treated with animpregnating agent, the lower portion of said counter being renderedstifi by a suitable treatment of the impregnating agent, the upperportion of the counter including said agent but having a marginal zoneextending for substantially a third of the height of the counter, whichzone isfree from the stiflening treatment, and a skive upon the uppermarginal zone of the counter, whereby the marginal zone of the counteris readily deformable under finger pressure.

Signed by me at Boston, this 19th day of August 1929.

ABRAHAM BLUSTEIN.

Massachusetts,

